Upon reviewing the National Educational Technology Standards for Students I recognized several indicators that I would like to improve upon in order to be a model for my students and to create rich learning environments. In order to improve upon these indicators I will use the G.A.M.E. plan which includes setting Goals, taking Action to meet the goals, Monitoring progress, and Evaluating whether the goal was achieved (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2009, p.3). The first indicator that I would like to improve on is to collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation. The second that I would like to improve on is to evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning.
In order to improve upon the first indicator of collaborating with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation I must look at the best way to digital tools to reach as many collaborative partners as possible. In order to achieve this goal I think that the best option would be an interactive class website. This website would allow me to upload assignments and important announcements, but in order for collaboration to take place it must be much more than that. I would like the website to serve as a conferencing tool between parents, students, and community members. On the class website, instead of simply posting the class assignment. I would ask for input and ideas from my collaborative partners. My goal is that such a website would take the walls out of the classroom and allow parental and community influence to pour in. Also, Cennamo et. al., maintain that computer conferencing can assist in developing creative thinking skills. The reasons they state include, "...the ease with which everyone can participate and the ability to be able to think through your responses before responding" (2009, p. 71). I will monitor my progress by being an active member of the conferencing. In parents, students, and community members are actively sharing ideas and conversing then I know that the collaboration is successful. If I do not see these things happening then I will need to re-adjust my plan for meeting my goal. In order to evaluate whether or not I improved upon this indicator I would like to send a parent survey at the end of the school year to see what percentage of parents participated and what they thought of the collaborative learning environment. Results of this survey will give me material to reflect and improve upon.
In order to improve upon the second indicator of evaluating and reflecting on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources I must make a effort to set aside personal time each week to research new technologies. In my classroom I have a multitude of technologies at my fingertips. I have a MIMIO board and class writer, projector, and several computers. However, when teaching 6th grade math I find that I only use the MIMIO to project notes and complete practice problems. I have not even begun to tap into the functions and activies that a MIMIO can bring to my math class. According to Cennamo et. al. there are websites that offer online learning communities for teachers with interactive whiteboards where teachers can download lesson plans, presentations, and templates to use in their own classroom (2009, p. 93). I would like to take advantage of this and see how other teachers are utilizing their interactive whiteboards in order to improve student learning. Each week I would like to try and incorporate one new whiteboard technology into my current teaching practice and keep notes on how the lesson went and what improvements I could make. These notes will allow me to monitor my progress as well as evaluate my use of the new technologies.
Resources
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2010). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
I have a classroom website which I use for classroom assignments, memos, upcoming events, etc. The problem I have is that I teach in a low income school, and a lot of my students do not have Internet access or computers at home. Therefore my website is not reaching all of the parents, do you have this problem? I have viewed some wonderful teacher websites, and I would like to do something like this myself as well. I wish you luck with this. Another problem I experience is parental involvement; I hate to say parents do not care about their child’s education but they certainly do not show any interest. I have students who will tell me they do not read at home, they do not study their spelling or vocabulary words and this is the only “homework” I assign. It hurts me that some, not all, parents do not show more interest in their children’s education.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I have not seen a MIMIO board, is this similar to a Smart Board? I am supposed to be getting one in my classroom this year and I can’t wait to use it. I was looking online and saw some discussions about math and the MIMIO on www.proteacher.net. This is a great site, if you have not viewed it before you should do so. There are resources and discussions between teachers, I really like it. Also a suggestion for you, if you have not already done so, would be to use a search engine to look up some lessons for the MIMIO board that someone may have already created and you could adapt to your needs.
Good luck with reaching your goals!
We have the same problems that Vanessa described with parents and community involvement in our school. Last year, we only had a few parents that participated in the Parent Teacher Association (PTA). At the last school meeting, only one parent showed up, and it’s that one parent that attends everything. Our leadership committee has brainstormed ideas on how to get the parents to the school, but the only idea we came up with was to provide a night that includes free food. Being in a low income school district, parents aren’t able to pay the $5.00 to join the PTA and a lot of times can’t even afford the gas to get to the school. We thought if we fed their families, they would be more encouraged to come. If we can get the parents to the school, we would train them on how to use the schools online system for our homework pages, blogs, and announcements. Administration monitors the system closely to make sure each teacher stays current with their information, but it’s discouraging when I only had twenty hits on it for the whole year. Most parents don’t have internet access at home, but they all have cell phones. Do you think parents could use their cell phones to stay up to date with their student’s education?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I have had a Smart board in my classroom for the past two years. It is an excellent source of technology to keep the student’s engaged. I know the MIMIO is very similar to the Smart technology. The most helpful thing for me was when I was introduced to the Smart Exchange website. This website stores all sorts of lessons already created by teachers. When I am looking for a lesson on “Nouns,” I would go to the Smart Exchange, find a lesson that’s already been created, and adapt it for my classroom. It is time effective and allows me to incorporate a Smart lesson everyday. Here is the website for the Smart Exchange, so you can look at it. I’m sure there is also a website available for the MIMIO technology as well.
http://exchange.smarttech.com/#tab=0
Emily Williams
Thank you for the resource. I appreciate it. I understand exactly what you are saying about parental involvement. It was like you were talking about my school too. I teach in a very low income school where the majority of the students receive either free or reduced lunch. I have never taken a survey to see how many parents have cell phones, but that would be interesting to know. I know that most of the students in my class last year did not have computers or Internet access at home. My school implements a One Call Now program which allows teachers and administration to send phone call memos home to parents to let them know about events or anything you need them to know. It is pretty effective with the parents knowing about things going on at school; however we still do not have the involvement we would like. As you said, you see the same parents over and over. We had two open house sessions after school last year for parents to come and pick up reports cards, talk to teachers, etc. I saw the same parents who come every morning and evening to school. Did you see success when you offered free food to the parents? I have noticed whenever the school is offering something free, parents tend to come out. I wish there was some way to get parents more involved.
ReplyDeleteAt our school (also a low income school) we have every student bring in $2 (of course that never really happens, but enough still do) at registration to go in to the PACCT fund. PACCT stands for patience, acceptance, courage, character, and trustworthiness. Then we have parents sign up to be a PACCT parent; similar to a PTC parent. These parents put on a monthly "good behavior" party for the grade that had the least amount of disciplines that month. They use the money to buy snacks and invite a speaker (usually a local banker, mayor, business owner, etc.) to talk to the students about one of the five areas of PACCT, and to congratulate/encourage them to keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteI felt this was a great way to get parents and the community involved with the school each month.
Missy to Nicole: I also work in a low income area where many students do not have internet. However, most students are able to get to the library for internet usage. Some students are able to use the internet at a friend's house. I have had some parents get online at the library to see what their students are doing. Also, some parents have internet at work and can access class work there. This has been a good way to stay in touch with most parents. However, some parents have the internet and still do not use it. So, you might have to have a backup plan for parents who are not connected.
ReplyDeleteMissy
Detric to Nicole: You may be able to find some additional support by viewing these websites to see if they may offer you any information on MIMIO. Try these: www.edsitement.com, www.shoomp.com. or Youtube.com. I just happen to find these sites while working on completing some of our weekly assignment. Also, when dealing with parental involvement trying to get parents to help you foster a partnership wih them in helping to educate their child/children. Have you heard of Blackboard or Powerschool? These are two programs that I have heard several teachers use in aiding their communication with parents. Also, some of my colleagues have incorporated Facebook, Twitter, and created their own websites for parents and students to access as a way of communicating with them as well. One teacher commented that this work fine for hime since a number of his students and parents have cell phones with these apps that they would be able to access easily. However, he teaches eleventh and tweltfh grade students. There are ways in which you can create a website free of charge that may help also. Just a Thought.
ReplyDeleteGood Luck!